Sweden

Tour of 2018 – Day 14, August 9th 2018

Camp at Ritsem
Woke up rather early around 6 am, felt rested and ready to start the day. The sky was cloudy and looked like it would rain later so I wiped off the tent first thing and let the rest of the moisture blow away in the wind while getting through my morning routine and ready for the day. Thankfully no rain in the morning and I could break everything down dry!
Just before 8 am I started on the trail towards Ritsem and followed it through the birch forest. Now, rain-drenched birch forest with lots of low bushes and occasional wetlands (yet I have to admit the trail for the most part elegantly led between the really wet areas) has never been my favorite condition when hiking. And 1.5h into the day it started to rain again, light at first and then more and more heavy rain, the kind that gets You wet all the way to the bare skin regardless of what kind of rain gear You’re wearing. Don’t know for sure if it’s all the mental and emotional work I’ve been through in the last years, the fact that I’m in ketosis, or both, yet I was in a perfect and pleasant mood the entire way.
After some time the trail raised above the tree line and I’m sure the view over Akkajaure and the Akka mountains on the opposite shore would be majestic, if not obscured by clouds and rain. I got a few glimpses of the view, though most of the time there was only mist, clouds, and raindrops around me.
Now, the trail itself was remarkably clear and easy to follow. Just a couple of times during the 20km I had to stop and look twice where to go next. Even the parts through the thickest woods were clear enough and nearing Ritsem there was an almost ridiculous amount of red paint used to mark the trail.
Ironically the rain stopped almost entirely just about 1km before I reached the mountain station and the rest of the day was dry. Still, I spend most of it inside, taking care of equipment, chatting with other hikers and purposefully overeating on keto foods.
I felt I had taken in way too little energy during the first two weeks and started my stay in Ritsem with six eggs scrambled in 100g of butter, at night followed by my usual dinner and a generous amount of nuts!
Oh, and yes, the mattress situation got sorted, they had one last, very old fashion, mattress still in stock. I’m really grateful I did not have to spend more than 24h going to Gällivare, and having to stay there overnight, just to replace the damaged gear!
I also decided to go for the afternoon boat to Änonjalme the next day, and aim for a real rest day! I think my legs will reward me for that in the weeks to come!

The journey continues, please leave a comment to tell me what You think and share this with friends and loved ones who might benefit or be interested!

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Peace // Claes

Tour of 2018 – Day 13, August 8th 2018

Camp at the bridge west of Ubmasvarasj
What a pleasant morning at Røysvatnhyttene, I slept in until about 8 am and enjoyed quite a few lazy hours in and around the cabin. Weather was sunny with a light breeze and it was very nice to sit outside with a cup of coffee just reading a book.
At 1 pm I left the cabin and followed the trail south until it crossed the ’gränsleden’ (border trail) where I turned eastbound on that trail.
My mattress had developed such a hump that sleeping on it was causing me neck pain and I needed to replace it. So I headed off towards Ritsem and decided to split the 40km into two more or less equal parts.
The trail was easy to follow and pleasant to walk, no real ups and downs, just a very mellow hike on the mostly soft ground.
Passing over Vakkatjavelk the trail is not consistent with how it’s marked on the map, just follow the stone markers and You’ll get there!
Coming down from that little mountain I encountered (and startled) quite a few reindeers. Finally I also ran into som ripe cloud berries and could pick a handful just next to the trail. A welcome taste of fresh berries, I love the tartness of them!
Reaching the bridge I quickly found a suitable campsite and after pitching the tent and having a quick dinner I just stretched out for a few minutes inside the tent.
Waking up about 1.5h later to heavy rain falling, I got ready for the night and slipped under my sleeping bag.

The journey continues, please leave a comment to tell me what You think and share this with friends and loved ones who might benefit or be interested!

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Peace // Claes

Tour of 2018 – Day 3, July 29th 2018

Camp at bridge over Vierrojohka
We went to bed early last night and everyone was probably asleep by 9pm, I know for sure that I was. The frenzy of the last week before departing obviously had caught up with me when I started relaxing out here in nature!
Slept super well and woke up just after 6:30 in the morning, turns out I was the only one up and I let the girls sleep in while doing some reading and enjoying a great meditation.
After a long, relaxed morning we got going at 11am, maybe half hour earlier Ashleigh got some Advil out of her bag and offered Cornelia for her knee pain. This turned out to be one of the highlights of the tour as we all finished today’s hike felling really well. Cornelia felt a slight discomfort at times, no pain.
The trail through Bessesvagge was, for the most part, in better shape than I’ve ever seen it. Still I lost it once on the stretch through the bushes and found it again after some struggling with vegetation.
I followed a creek uphill until I got back on the trail and then got back down to get my backpack and the girls. Super impressed by their effort, they did 100m (300ft) of steep elevation in just about 20min!
After a short break we continued along the trail, turned south towards the bridge over Aliseatnu and crossed over to the south side.
Side note: there’s a new trail heading eastbound when the wetlands start to show up, I checked it out and highly recommend to stick with the original one!
Reaching the intended campsite at the western shore of Vierrojohka we ignored the cold of the glacier water and first got cleaned up. Then setting up camp and having dinner down by the little pebble beach, starting a small fire to fend off the mosquitoes that appeared when the wind went down.
Tomorrow we need to get started a few hours earlier to have enough time for the Mårma pass so we’re all heading for another early night!

The journey continues, please leave a comment to tell me what You think and share this with friends and loved ones who might benefit or be interested!

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Peace // Claes

Tour of 2018 – Day 1, July 27th 2018

Camp at Cuonjajavri
A day of travel, it turned out that there were no really good connections from Kiruna that fitted our arrival from Stockholm, ARN, and we ended up spending over 3.5h in Kiruna.
The day started a little challenging with one from the group sleeping in, yet our driver was super friendly and agreed to a detour to pick her up. Challenge successfully solved!

Finally at 4pm we got off the bus in Abisko and hit the trail!

Beautiful hike in fantastic weather, actually the heat made it necessary to force down extra water at every creek. One of us was especially challenged by the hot sun and had to wet her cap repeatedly to keep her head cold.
Needless to say we took it very easy and reached the camp site after around four hours of hiking, taking several breaks to cool down!
After pitching our tents we sat down for a late dinner and soon after it was time to hit the sleeping bags!
From a personal perspective I’m super happy that I start the hike this year being fat adapted. Didn’t eat for nine hours between lunch and dinner, felt super great, full of energy and no hunger at all!
I cannot recommend enough that You make sure to be fat adapted when going on a longer hike, it’s a total game changer!

The journey continues, please leave a comment to tell me what You think and share this with friends and loved ones who might benefit or be interested!

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Peace // Claes

Day 30 – August 26th 2017

19:40 Abisko Tourist Station

Clean, warm and cozy – my feelings this evening comprised into three words.

Woke up in a soaked tent, had a lazy morning hanging out at the cabin in Abiskojaure and getting an interview done with one of the cabin hosts.

The 14km to Abisko are a really easy hike and the weather was hugely better than the last days, almost to the point where I regretted heading for the mountain station.
Yet the prospect of checking in a backpack containing wet equipment and dealing with the stuff back home was motivating enough to finish the tour today.

Arriving in Abisko I got the last available room in the hotel part and could get all my stuff dried out inside the facility. Ignoring the eminent restaurant I dined on my last portion of dehydrated ground beef for this tour, enjoying the comfort of doing my dishes in hot water from a faucet.

Looking back at the tour of 2017, it has definitely been one of the best ever, though the weather has been way worse than most years.
From a subjective point of view, the ketogenic way of fueling has been absolutely outstanding for comfort and performance and, regardless of test results, this is the way I fuel my hikes (and, frankly, most of my future life).
The abundance of energy, mental clarity and resilience combined with wonderful sleep and lack of hunger during the day makes it an ideal fit for me and I cannot recommend enough that You try it out.

Let me just end this with a huge shout out for my sponsors, Ketonix and Nourish Balance Thrive, I’m incredibly grateful for the support and there’re no words to endorse their products enough.
I definitely continue to use them!

That’s it for this tour, I hope You enjoyed tagging along just as much as I enjoyed completing it.
Stay tuned for a few shorter tour suggestions building on my hike, as I want to make the area accessible to more people.
And remember, Lapland is still here next year and I´ll be back!

Planning to lead a small group of people through some beautiful nature on week 1 so let me know if You’re interested. More on this later!

Thanks for following and supporting my journey, hope to see You soon again!

Peace // Claes

Day 29 – August 25th 2017

21:00 Camp next to Abiskojaure cabin

Rain, rain, rain – was the name of the game today… I spent quite some time in Alesjaure waiting for the down pour to slow down, yet finally I had to start heading north towards Abiskojaure. Originally planning to camp just outside the National Park, I changed my plan about 90 minutes into the hike when my rain jacket turned out to fail miserably at keeping me dry.
Somehow I managed to get started when the rain took a short break, just 20 minutes later it started pouring again and literally continued for the entire stretch down to Abiskojaure. Except for shorter periods when the rain got mixed with snow…
Needless to say this was not my favorite weather to hike!

One of the beautiful aspects of hiking in a keto adapted state is that You just don’t need to bother about food. Normally a 19km hike would call for one or more stops to refuel and when the weather is hostile as on this day, it just doesn’t invite to have a pit stop for snacks… Such a blessing to just continue on without any sign of hunger, fatigue or loss of energy!

I´m also incredibly grateful for the mental clarity and focus the ketogenic state induces as there were quite a few very slippery and treacherous parts on the trail due to the snow and rain.

Once getting closer to the cabin in Abiskojaure it was a really easy decision to pitch the tent next to it and enjoy the sauna and other facilities. The cabin itself was over crowded with people sleeping on mattresses on the floor, while the service room for campers was almost empty, just me and a couple from the UK utilizing it in the evening. So grateful that my tent was pitched outside and I could retire to privacy and stillness i the midst of chaos within the cabins.

The journey continues, please leave a comment to tell me what You think and share this with friends and loved ones who might benefit or be interested!

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Peace // Claes

Day 27&28 – August 23rd-24th 2017

06:15 Camp near Vistas cabin

 

I slept fantastic, such a wonderful feeling to go to bed really clean for the first time in almost a week. The temperature es really pleasant during the night, I had to close my sleeping bag and then I had perfect conditions inside. I almost slept through, only remember waking once during the night .
The morning is slightly moist with low clouds and I have some condensation on the inside of the tent.

 

It’ll just have to stay here waiting for some wind while I go over to the cabin for coffee.
Usually some wind comes up in the morning and that will dry the tent in no time, and if it I’ll just have to hang if inside for an hour or so!
Today is planned to be a slow day and I right now really hope that the weather forecast will support that plan. My legs are weary and I don’t feel like doing anything more exhausting today!

20:30 Camp at Vistas Cabin

After all I decided to grant myself the first real rest day of the trip, my body needed to recover some more, the people in the cabin were friendly, interesting and pleasant and the snow at higher altitude did not at all invite to do the exit over Mårma that I originally had planned.

Interestingly enough my good friend Helge from Freiburg showed up unexpectedly during the afternoon and we got the opportunity to catch up over a cup of tea. Turned out his cell phone had stoppet working properly and none of us had received the messages from each other. Him turning up here in Vistas was just another of the inexplicable things that happen all the time in my life these days.

Anyway, later in the afternoon I pitched my tent right next to the cabin and enjoyed the sauna for the second day in a row before having dinner and planning the next day. Depending on the weather I might just go for camping next to cabins on my way out, I need my stuff to be reasonably dry when I come home or my cats will just have too much fun claw-climbing my tent in the apartment…

Day 28th – August 24th 2018

20:30 Camp next to Alesjaure cabin

Slow relaxed hiking day up Vistasvagge, I started mid morning together with Mikael, one of the guys I met at Vistas and we took it really easy hiking up the valley.
A day full of pleasant conversations, a couple of tea breaks and totally acceptable weather conditions.

We had a couple of showers hitting us yet nothing serious and, to be frank, I wouldn’t have had to camp here in close proximity to the cabin. It´s just that the next good camp site is found quite a few km farther down the trail and going there would have rendered tomorrows hike ridiculously short.

 

Hiking in Vistasvagge is always beautiful, the valley itself is stunning and the trail soft and friendly most of the time. And they really put in some work marking the trail when approaching Alesjaure, earlier years there has been some confusion as the Sami village right next to the cabin has produced an abundance of intertwining trails.

 

Arriving at the cabin mid afternoon I picked a spot and pitched my tent on semi dry ground, enjoying the warmth of the cabin reading and talking with other hikers.
One of the cabin hosts I had met a few years earlier in Unna Allakas and seeing him again was a really pleasant surprise.

 

As I managed to keep myself dry and warm most of the hike I didn’t feel any need for sauna but checked out for an early evening in the tent instead!

The journey continues, please leave a comment to tell me what You think and share this with friends and loved ones who might benefit or be interested!

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Peace // Claes

Day 26- August 22nd 2017

06:55 Unna Reitas cabin


I woke up a little over an hour ago, pleasantly enough to the first beam of sunlight!
Fantastic feeling to get outside and greet the morning sun at the elevation, instead of wiping the tent dry from rain drops as I’ve become accustomed to.
So grateful for this beautiful morning!!!

Funny enough my old experience junkie personality immediately jumps up and tells me to use the good weather and do this and that ant those cool tours over there…
It’s so good to be able to just observe what’s going on in the mind and then ignore it, staying in the moment and just enjoying the gift of this day in peace and gratitude.


I’ll just stick to my original plan for the day, pass Nallo for an interview with the cabin host and then continue to Vistas and a long, slow afternoon just resting. I have to admit that I deeply look forward to sit in the sauna and soak in the heat for a long time later today. My muscles are pretty sore from the last days and I took a couple of lighter falls on the wet stones yesterday, rendering me some bruises to tend to.

Anyway, I look forward to start my hiking day sunshine and, knowing the route, anticipate a pleasant and rather relaxed hiking day!

22:00 Camp near Vistas cabin

So nice to be clean again, I spent quite a lot of time in the sauna again and really let myself get soaked in the heat. Feels amazing for my worn out ligaments and tired muscles!

The hike down to Vistas was really just as relaxed as I remembered it to be. The first 8km to Nallo took me two hours and fifteen minutes and I spent about an hour there at the cabin, chatting with the host and getting another video!
First part of the trail from Unna Reitas is rather stony and the snow fields were frozen and pretty slippery this morning.


Some water puddles were covered with ice, showing independent proof for the cold of last night.
The river crossing was a little tricky and needed some rock and balance skills to get over dry.

 

 


From Nallo on the trail was beautifully easy to follow, incredibly faster than finding ones own line in nature. After the recent rains it was considerably more wet and muddy than I’ve seen it before, yet nothing that presented a real issue. The 10km took only another two and a quarter hour, and upon arrival I raised the tent and left my sleeping gear in it before proceeding to the cabin.

Again I met some really nice people and enjoyed a pleasant afternoon and evening, it felt great to arrive early and I even got an extra meal in today to refuel a little extra before the last few days of my tour.

Weather forecast promised good weather tomorrow, after that it’s supposed to go back to ‘unstable’ – same forecast as most days this trip…
I’m waiting for in update tomorrow morning and if it’s still states the same message I might do Mårma already tomorrow to get over the pass in good conditions. Then I have ridiculously much time on the other side of the pass to relax or do some extra few km, depending on the weather.

Anyway, no point speculating – tomorrow I’ll make the decision one way or another!

The journey continues, please leave a comment to tell me what You think and share this with friends and loved ones who might benefit or be interested!

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Peace // Claes

Day 25 – August 21st 2017

07:00 Camp at Darfaljavri

I woke up about half an hour ago and lingered in the sleeping bag for a little while, the morning is cold enough that I felt some resistance leaving the cozy warmth and get out into the day.
The many days with rain and lacking the opportunity to really dry my stuff thoroughly has left about everything just slightly moist. Not bad enough to impact the functionality of the sleeping bag etc, yet still easily detectable.

I hope that I can get that sorted during my rest day in Vistas!
Yes, I’m gonna have a rest day – tomorrow I’ll get down to Vistas or close by and Wednesday I just hang out at that cabin before hitting the last part of the tour.
I figure that I could really use a slow day before hitting Mårma and starting my way out of the mountains for this time.
There are definitely some mixed feelings about ending the tour, on one hand I look forward to sleep in my bed, have my cats and friends around me again and get back to work. On the other hand I feel a slight anxiousness to go back to ‘the real world’, being out in nature just feels so much more real than dealing with ‘civilization’.
I’m contemplating some strategies to cope with everyday life and still keep the peace, serenity and contentment that comes from being disconnected from just that modern everyday life. I’ll let you know what works!

Anyway, it stopped raining sometimes during the night and I already wiped my tent so hopefully I can pack it up decently dry when I’m ready to get started on today’s tour.
Though the sky is overcast it looks like we’re gonna have a dry morning, the forest predicted better weather today than the last few days.
I’m planning to do all three passes today yet have never done any of them from this side before for some reason. So I really don’t know how hard they are and don’t want to be too cocky, this is a pretty tough day tour and, though I’m very confident I can do it, I’m not gonna feel bad if I have to stop and camp in Kaskasavagge.

20:30 Camp at Unna Reitas cabin

What a day – not only did I make all three passes, I did them in just under 7 hours with two breaks of 60 and 30 min.
I’m gonna be candid with you, though, it was hard – more mentally than physically. I’m just tired from being focused on slippery and unstable rocks and stones for hours at a time and my eyes and brain need a break…

To be frank I’m totally not sure I would have made it if it wasn’t for being in nutritional ketosis and having the PhatFibre to rely on for energy when needed. After a good three weeks out here the boast of energy supplied by the MCT powder has become absolutely invaluable for me. It´s such a superior substrate than hitting myself with simple sugars on a regular basis and the raise in energy levels is so much more sustainable.


I’m really convinced about this product and can highly recommend it for endurance purposes that require extraordinary stamina and resilience.

Anyway, I started at 08:35 this morning and soon had to stop and add an additional layer of clothing. The wind was just brutally cold, blowing down from the glaciers.
First part up towards Guobirvagge is a long, rather slow climb and I have to admit that my legs really disliked this start of the morning. Higher up it got steeper and I could use a snow field for quite a stretch. Reaching the highest point of the first pass my legs had become warmed up, yet my hands and feet were still freezing in the wind and low temperatures.


The decent into the valley was rather easy and I decided to take a break and have a PF coffee before continuing. During the break a group of five men from Switzerland caught up with me and we chatted for a while before they continued.
I took it easy and left after an hour long break, feeling rather energetic. Actually a lot better than when approaching the first climb of the morning.
Climb went well and the only issue were clouds gathering and wetting the rocks, making them slippery and slowing my progress. The decent offered ample opportunity to use snow fields and was swift and fun.


After the descent into Kaskasavagge I caught up with the Swiss group again and joined them for their break. Naturally we then continued together and I really enjoyed having company through the last climb, I started feeling mentally really tired and chatting with the nice people kept me focused.

After taking some pictures at the top we started the decent and it didn’t take long before all six of us were sliding down the large snow field using our boots as make shift skis – rather risky, of course, yet all went well and we had a blast. Needless to say it cut the time it took getting down considerably!

We all decided to camp at the cabin in Unna Reitas and spent a nice evening chatting, having dinner and drinking tea.

Tomorrow I’ll do the 18km down to Vistas via Nallo, were I’d like to stop and get another cabin host video. Once at Vistas it’s relaxing time, I plan to stay the night and most of the following day. Only aiming for the first lake on the way to Mårma sometime before evening – I need some time to unwind and regroup my focus and concentration before I hit the pass at Mårma!

The journey continues, please leave a comment to tell me what You think and share this with friends and loved ones who might benefit or be interested!

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Peace // Claes

Day 24 – August 20th 2017

10:20 Kebnekaise station

Wow, what a breakfast!!! Waking up in time to be there at 06:00 when they opened was a non issue, I frankly didn’t sleep very well or much at all. There was a heavy rain falling most of the night, the noice of drops falling on the tarp keeping me from getting any real deep sleep.
Thankfully I’ve slept amazingly well all throughout the tour and one night won’t matter that much!

I took it really slow and easy with breakfast, staying with keto friendly foods and intentionally eating well past satiety to refill some reserves. The last few days have been taxing and I know I didn’t eat even close to enough yesterday.
What a marvelous timing to sit in a dry and warm restaurant and watch the rain continue poor down outside the window. As I only plan to do the easy 9km to Tarfala today, there’s no need at all to rush getting started. It looks like the rain stopped just half an hour ago and next I’ll check on the tent to see if I can wipe it off and get packed reasonably dry. I might have to wait for some help from the wind and the forecast says it should be dry now for quite a few hours.

I have to admit that however much I appreciate the breakfast and the comfort of the station here, I’m eager and excited to get away from civilization again. Grateful to be able to connect with loved ones briefly and report that I’m well and enjoying my time here!

20:20 Camp at Darfaljavri

Getting the tent down and packed reasonably dry went considerably well and I had all my stuff together by 12:30.

Then I stayed a lot longer at the Kebnekaise station than I originally planned as I wanted to wait for the manager and get an interview for the Cabin Host series. Finally at 14:30 I departed towards Tarfala and did the 9km in just under three hours. Rushing was not on my agenda!

 

 

Met some people on the trail who treated me to some really nice salami (I think it was Italian), and this was the only piece of food I ate between breakfast and the dinner later.

I stopped briefly at the Tarfala cabin and the host was kind enough to volunteer another interview for the series, once again two videos in one day – great flow.
Tarfala is just amazingly wild and ancient, surrounded by a whole bunch of glaciers creating a very special atmosphere. It’s a very important place for climate studies in Sweden due to the uniquely preserved ice masses.
Right now it’s again too rainy to go out and make a video for you, so I hope I can do my ‘Day 24 video’ tomorrow morning. The clouds quickly squeeze away the last daylight from around here.
I’m probably not going to be up very late tonight anyway, last night I didn’t sleep much due to the heavy rain and I’m looking at a rather rough day tomorrow and will need to be as rested as possible!
I also need relatively good weather to pull the tour of in a safe way so let’s hope and pray that the rain stops before daybreak.

Going down steep snow fields in rain without crampons is a clear no no!

The journey continues, please leave a comment to tell me what You think and share this with friends and loved ones who might benefit or be interested!

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Peace // Claes